


oc- 






535 






The 



Andrew J. Stone Explorations 



in 



Arctic and Subarctic America 



Published by 
The American Museum of Natural History 

1905 



THE ANDREW J. STONE EXPLORATIONS IN ARCTIC AND 

SUBARCTIC AMERICA 



The edition of this brochure is limited to one 
hundred copies, numbered, of which this is 

No../''/?.. 

# ;/. 



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The 



Andrew J. Stone Explorations 



in 



Arctic and Subarctic America 



Published by 

The American Museum of Natural History 

1905 



if 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, through the issue 
of this brochure, endeavors to acknowledge the generosity of those whose 
liberal contributions have made it possible for Mr. Andrew J. Stone to 
attack the zoological problems of the Northwest. It desires to make known more 
generally the scientific results that have attended Mr. Stone's efforts, and it 
hopes that the example herein set forth of achievements gained through a com- 
bination of men ready to help, with a man ready to do, may result in the organi- 
zation of other expeditions to other lands. 



vii 



SUBSCRIBERS TO THE STOXK i:\PLORATION FUND. 

HUGH D. AUCHINCLOSS, New York City. 
JOHN S. BARNES, New York City. 
CHAS. T. BARNEY, New York City. 
R. L. BURTON, \Y\\ York City. 
JOHN L. CADWALADER, New York City. 
HUGH J. CHISHOLM, New York City. 
JAMES M. CONSTABLE (Estate). 

E. W. DAVIS. New York City. 

CHAS. STEWART DAVISON, New York City. 
C. H. DODGE, New York City. 

F. G. GOODRIDGE, New York City. 
FRANCIS B. HARRISON, New York City. 
W. E. MAYNARD, New York City. 

J. P. MORGAN, Jr., New York City. 

LEWIS R. MORRIS, New York City. 

HENRY F. OSBORN, New York City. 

HENRY CLAY PIERCE, New York City. 

HENRY W. POOR, New York City. 

PERCY R. PYNE, New York City. 

ARCHIBALD ROGERS, Hyde Park -on -Hudson, N. Y. 

Miss PHEBE ANNA THORNE, New York City. 

W. A. WADSWORTH, Geneseo, N. Y. 

CHAS. E. WHITEHEAD, New York City. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAOE 

Fig. i. OVISSTONII . j 

Fig. 2. Ovis STONEI . . . . 3 

Fig. 3. Ovis CERVINA 3 

Fin. 4 SKETCH MAP INDICATING GEOGRAPHICAL CORRECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS; 

ALSO SHOWING A PORTION OP MR. STONE'S ARCTIC COAST JOURNEY . 4 

Fig. 5. TRANSCRIPT OF PORTION OP EMIL PETITOT'S CHART 4 

6. SKETCH MAP SHOWING POSITION OP 'ESQUIMAUX LAKE' AS INDICATED ON 

THE U. S. HYDROGRAPHIC CHART No. 1189 5 

Fig. 7. ALASKA MOOSE 6 

Fii; 8. ALASKA MOOSE (PROM A MOUNTED SPECIMEN) . .... 7 

Fig. 9. HOME OF THE ALASKA MOOSE 7 

Figs, to, ii. WHITE SHEEP 8 

Figs. 12, 13. RANT.IFER STONEI .9 

Fig. 14. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR (IN THE FLESH) .10 

Fig. 15. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR (IN THE FLESH) . . n 

Fig. 16. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR (MOUNTED SPECIMEN) n 

Fig. 17. HOME OF ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR . . . . . 12 

FigS. l8-20. URSUS DALLI GYAS (SKULL) ... 13 

Figs. 21-23. URSUS MERRIAMI (SKULL) . . . . . '4 

Fig. 24. URSUS MERRIAMI (MOUNTED SPECIMEN) . . 15 

Fig. 25. NORTHERN GRIZZLY ........... 16 

FigS. 26-28. URSUS MIDDENDORFFI (SKULL) . ...... 17 

Fig. 29. HEAD OF MOUNTAIN GOAT .......... 18 

Fig. 30. NORTHERN BUSHY-TAILED RAT 19 

Figs. 31.32- LOUCHEUX MAN AND WOMAN . 20 

Figs. 33,34. KOUKPAGMIUT MEN ... . .21 

Fig. 35. KOUKPAGMIUT WOMEN AND CHILD 22 

Figs. 36, 37. RANGIFER GRANTI ... 23 

Fig. 38. GROUP OF THE GRANT CARIBOU . . ... 24 

Fig. 39. HOME OF THE GRANT CARIBOU . . . 24 

Figs. 40,41. OSBORN CARIBOU . . . .25, 26 

Fig. 42. BRINGING CARIBOU TO CAMP ... . 27 

Fig. 43. CAMP SCENE ON LEVEL MOUNTAIN 28 

Fig. 44. DRYING THE SKINS ... . . . . 29 

Fig. 45. HOME OF THE OSBORN CARIBOU . .... . . 30 

xi 



Fig. 46. METHOD OF CAPTURING CARIBOU FORMERLY EMPLOYED BY THE LOUCHEUX 

INDIANS ............ 31 

Fig. 47. DIAGRAM OF AN IDEAL ESKIMO TRAP FOR THE CAPTURE OF CARIBOU, USED 

PREVIOUS TO THE ADVENT OF THE RlFLE . . ... 3! 

Fig. 48. CACHE OF SPECIMENS ......... 32 

Fig. 49. MR. STONE'S CAMP IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES . . 33 

Fig. 50. ON THE CARCAJOU RIVER . . . . . . . . . -34 

Figs. 51,52. BRINGING BEAR SKINS TO CAMP ...... 35 

Fig. 53. BUILDING A BOAT . . * . . . -36 

Fig. 54. ON THE LIARD RIVER . . ... 37 

Fig. 55. CAMPING ON THE ARCTIC COAST . . . -38 



Tlu- edition <>f this lirochurr, limited to one hundivd nuinU-ivd copies, is 

ilistrilmti-il ;is follows : 



Ail i \. I >K | A 

.\MKKIC\N Mi H < M .11 NATURAL HISTORY, 

AMI i "r.KAPiucAL SOCIETY. 

ANHKRSOS. A A 

AUCHINCI.I.SS. HUGH D. 

B ARM :>. JOHN S. 

BARNEY. CHARLI -,s T 

BLETUEN, JOSEPH. 

BOONE AMI ('KIM KI IT CLUB. 

BkAiNKRD, COL. DAVID S. 

BKIDCEMAX, H. L. 

BRIDGES, ROBERT. 

BROOKS. Ai i KM> II 

BROWN. PROK. ARTHUR EKWIN. 

BROWM i i :. HON. W. H. 

Bu.Mpfs. PROF. HEKMON C. 

Bi-RRori;ns. JOHN. 

BURTON. R. L. 

CADWAI.ADER. JOHN L. 
CENTURY ASSOCIATION. 
CHILBERG. J. V. 
CHISHOLM, HUGH J. 

-TABLE, FREDERICK A. 

CURTIN. E. S. 

Ct-RTis. CARLTON C. 

DAVIS. E. W. 
DAVISON, CHAS. STEWART. 
DAY, ROBERT W 
DODGE, CLEVELAND H. 

ELLIOT, PROF. D. G. 
ELPHI \STONE, LORD. 

GOELET, ROBERT W. 
GOODRIDGE, FRED G. 
GOULD, GEORGE J. 
GRANT, MADISON. 
GRIN-NELL, GEORGE BIRD. 

HAN-BURY, DAVID T. 
HARRIMAN. E. H. 
HARRISON. FRANCIS BURTON. 
HAZARD, R. G. 
HILL. JAMES J. 
HORNADAY. WILLIAM T. 
HUGHITT, MORRIS. 

JESUP, MORRIS K 
KIDDER, JAMES H. 

v, HON. JOHN E. 
LA FAROE, C. GRANT. 
LAMONT, COL. DANIEL S. 



LANIER. CHARLES. 
l.viu KKI R. RICHARD. 

M v, \ \KII. WALTER L. 

MclNDOE, CAPT. J.\-~ 

Mi KRIAM. DR C. HART. 

MILLER. ROSWELL. 

MILLS. DR. \V. P. 

MINI R. JOHN. 

MOORE. ('HAS. ARTHUR, JR. 

MoRC.AN. J I'lERPONT. 

MIIRI.AN. J I' . JR. 
MORRIS, DR. LI-:\VI> R. 
MORRIS, ROBERT C. 
MORRIS, DR. ROBERT T. 

\'ANM:N, FRIDTJOF. 

NELS..N. E. W 

NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

OSBORN, PROP. HENRY FAIRFIELD. 
OSGOOD, WILFRED H. 

PIERCE. HENRY ("LAY. 
POOR. HENRY W 
PYNE, M TAYLOR. 

PYNI :. IV KCY R. 

R AMI R CLUB. 
ROGERS. ARCHIBALD. 
ROOSEVELT, HON. THEODORE. 
RUSSELL. ARCHIBALD D. 

SCOTT, PROF. W. B. 

SHI I.DON, CHARI.I 
SPRAGUE, COL. CHARLES E. 
STONE, ANDREW J. 
STONE, GRANVILLE H. 

THOMAS, OLDFIELD. 
THORNE. Miss PHOEBE ANNA. 
TOWNE. E. S. 
TOWNSEND. CHARLES H. 

UNDERWOOD, F. D. 
UNION CLUB. 
UNIVERSITY CLUB. 
UNIVERSITY CLUB, SEATTLE. 

VON PLESSEN, BARON. 

WADSWORTH. MAJOR W AUSTIN. 
WALCOTT. HON. CHARLES D. 
Wi \THERBEF. EDWIN H 
WHITEHOUSE. WILLIAM F. 
WINSKR. JOHN H 



The Andrew J. Stone Explorations in Arctic 
and Subarctic America. 

LKSS than ten years ago \vry few s]>eeimens of the larger game animals of 
Aretie and Subarctic America were to be found in any natural history 
museum, and in none were any of the species satisfactorily represented. 
In 1896 Mr. Andrew J. Stone visited the Cassiar District of northern 
British I'olumbia on a hunting trip and among the trophies of the expedition 
brought to New York several specimens of a new species of Bighorn Sheep, since- 
described as Ovis stonei, in honor of its discoverer. These specimens were pur- 
chased by the late James M. Constable, First Vice -President of the American 
Museum of Natural History, for this institution, and they formed the beginning 
of its present collection of the large game animals of boreal America. As 
some of the species were becoming rapidly extirpated, it seemed of the utmost 
imjiortance that steps should immediately be taken to secure specimens not only 
for exhibition, but for scientific research. Accordingly, Mr. Constable, with his 
accustomed liberality, contributed largely to the support of a second expedition 
by Mr. Stone to Arctic America with this object especially in view. 

With this encouragement Mr. Stone left Seattle, Washington, early in July, 
1897, for Fort Wrangel, Alaska, on an expedition of more than two years' dura- 
tit >n, and which was to prove memorable in the annals of Arctic exploration. The 
amount of hardship and travel involved was exceptional, but the expedition re- 
sulted in important contributions to our knowledge of the distribution of the 
game animals of the high North, and of the geography of the Arctic coast to the 
eastward of the Mackenzie Delta,' besides adding to the Museum's collection of 
mammals a considerable number of specimens, including six species new to 
science. 

Mr. Stone's trip from Fort Wrangel was northeastward up the Stickine River, 
across the divide to Dease Lake, down Dease Lake and Dease River to the Liard 
Rivi-r. down the Liard to the Mackenzie, down the Mackenzie to the Delta, then 
west by dog sled along the coast to Herschel Island and back to Fort McPherson, 
thence eastward for about i ,000 miles to beyond Cape Lyon, and back to Fort Mc- 
Pherson. The return journey was westward -across the Rocky Mountains to Bell 
River, down Bell River to the Porcupine, down the Porcupine and Yukon to St. 
Michael, and thence by steamer to Seattle. Side trips were made from the head 
of the Stickine River to the Cheonnee Mountains; from the head of Dease Lake 

1 See "Some Results of a Natural History Journey to Northern British Columbia, Alaska, and the North- 
west Territory, in the Interest of the American Museum of Natural History." By A. J. Stone. Bull. Amer. 
Nat. Hist.. Vol. XIII. IQOO, pp. 31-62, with sketch maps. 

1 



into the Cassiar Mountains; from the Liard River up the Black River to Walker 
Mountains; from a lower point on the Liard River to the Nahanna Mountains; 
from Fort Norman, on the Mackenzie, westward into the main chain of the Rocky 
Mountains; and again westward from Fort McPherson into the Rockies. 

The trip to the Cassiar Mountains resulted in securing a good series of a new 
species of Caribou, since described as Rangtfer osborni, the largest and finest of 





Fig. i. Ovis STONEI. 

From photograph of a mounted specimen (the type, No. 12721 Am. Mus.), taken in the 
Cheonnee Mountains, Northern British Columbia, August 10, 1896. 



the Caribous; these specimens were carried on the backs of Mr. Stone and his 
men for sixty miles to the nearest point of shipment at the head of Dease Lake, 
and did not reach the Museum for more than two years after they were captured. 
The trip to the Nahanna Mountains was for White Bighorns and several speci- 
mens were secured, and a much larger series of the same species was obtained 
later in the main Rocky Mountains (lat. 66 30' N.), on the trip westward from 
Fort Norman. The trip into the Rockies from Fort McPherson was for Caribou, 



l>ut ]>n>ved unsuceessful, the animals having moved too far southward from their 
summer range to he overtaken. The win tor trip along tho coast westward to 
Horsi-hcl Island was mainly to secure information regarding the country and the 
Musk-ox ranges to tin- eastward. The intense cold precluded the preparation of 
specimens, although two sjH-oies of Lemming were procured. 

I-Yi.in information obtained at Herschel Island Mr. Stone was le<l to In-lieve 
that the ranges of the Musk-ox could be easily reached by a trip eastward along 
the Aretio east. and that the specimens when procured could he shipped hy 
whaling vessels direct from ('a]** Bathurst to San Francisco. It proved, how- 
ever, that these animals had retired further south than usual, and while "signs" 
were met with at several points, particularly south of Cape Lyon, they were not 





Fig. 2. Ovis STOXEI. 



Fig. 3. Ovis CERVIX A. 



Fig. 2, same specimen as Fig. i ; Fig. 3. Rocky Mountain Bighorn, from Montana. Both 
photographed to the same scale. 



recent, and no animals were seen. The provisions for both the men and the 
dogs finally became exhausted in the long search, and further quest had to be 
abandoned. 

Including the trips westward to the Rock}- Mountains and Herschel Island, the 
whole long Arctic winter was given up to travel with dog sleds. In October and 
the early part of November, 1898, a trip of 500 miles 250 miles and return- 
was made westward to the most northerly reaches of the Rocky Mountains; in 
November and December, again westward to Herschel Island and return a 
journey of 500 miles; in January and February, 1899, local trips, of between 200 
and 300 miles, were made in the region of the head of the Mackenzie Delta ; and 
finally, in March, April, May, and June, a journey across the Delta and eastward 
for 1000 miles along the Arctic coast to beyond Fort Lyon and return. The t< .tal 

I 



132 131 130 121* 126 127 186 186 184 183 122 121 120 




135 134 133 



Fig. 4. SKETCH MAP INDICATING GEOGRAPHICAL CORRECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS; ALSO 

SHOWING A PORTION OF MR. STONE'S ARCTIC COAST JOURNEY. 

The dotted lines indicate Mr. Stone's route. See Bulletin Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,|Vol. XIII, 
1900, pp. 38-41. 



"""HirfiJ' 

I GEOOIUPBIE I/ 7 " 




Fig. 5. TRANSCRIPT OF PORTION OF EMIL PETITOT'S CHART. 

4 



sledge ji.unu-ys t" tlu- wiiitrr of 1898-99 aggregated about 3330 miles, an<l \\vre ac- 
complished in 180 days, including 155 days of actual travel. Among tin- n suits of 
these journeys was a valuable series of photographs and anthropometric measure- 
ments of representatives of two tribes of Indians, the Tahltan and Loucheux, and 
of two tribes of Eskimo, the Nunatagmiut and KoukpagOtiut, tin- measurements 
comprising a total of 86 individuals '; much information about the general char- 
acter of the country and the ranges of the large game animals; and the correction 
i >f i^n >ss ern >rs in the current maps of the region bordering the Arctic coast between 
the mouth of the Mackenxie and Cape Lyon. The area indicated on the U. S. 




Fig. 6. SKETCH MAP SHOWING POSITION OF ' ESQUIMAUX LAKE ' AS INDICATED ON THE U. S. 

HYDROGRAPHIC CHART No. 1189. 



Hydrographic Chart No. 1189 as "Esquimaux Lake" (see Fig. 6), he found to be 
simply low country interspersed with small lakes; he crossed this area twice and 
found it to be land and not water. Other charted lakes and rivers were also 
found to have no real existence, and others that had been overlooked were for 
the first time charted and named by Mr. Stone. (See the sketch maps in Mr. 
Stone's paper already cited, here reproduced as Figs. 4, 5, and 6.) 

The natural history of the region traversed by Mr. Stone being only superficially 
known, it was natural that his explorations should add greatly to our knowledge 
of the ranges of the larger mammals in these high northern districts, not only 
through his own observations but by information derived from various officers 
of the Hudson Bay Company, and from intelligent white and Indian hunters. 

' See "A. J. Stone's Measurements of Natives of the Northwest Territories." By Franz Boas. Bull. 
Amor. Mus. Nat. Hist . Vol. XIV, 1901, pp. 53-68, pll. vii-ix. 

5 



Much new and definite information was thus secured in reference to the Wood 
Bison and the Musk-ox, both of which are rapidly declining in numbers, and 
becoming each year more and more restricted in their ranges. Our exact knowl- 
edge of the ranges of both the White and the Black Bighorn Sheep was also 
greatly extended, and a new form of the latter was discovered which still awaits 




Fig. 7. ALASKA MOOSE (Alces gigas). 

From a mounted specimen in the Museum, collected by Mr. Stone on the Kenai Peninsula, 
in September, 1900. 



description, the White Sheep of the Nahanna Mountains and the extreme north- 
ern part of the Rockies proving to be not the true Ovis dalli, as, until recently, 
supposed. Of this new form ' the only specimens extant in an}' museum are 
those in this Museum, collected by Mr. Stone in 1898. 

The ranges of the different forms of the Caribou group were also outlined in 
considerable detail. He says, in speaking of these animals in his paper published 

1 Soon to be described by Mr. Wilfred H. Osgood of the U. S. Biological Survey, who has in hand a criti- 
cal revision of the forms of Ovis inhabiting northern British Columbia, the Northwest Territory, and Alaska. 

6 




Fig. 8. AI.A-KA MOOSE. 

An exceptionally fine specimen, taken by Mr Stone the latter part of September, 1903, on the 
Kcnai Peninsula, Alaska. 




\'\K. 9. HOME OF THE ALASKA MOOSE. 

A t\ -pii -a I Moose range on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Photographed by Mr. Stone late in 
September. 

7 




Fig. 10. WHITE SHEEP. 

A White Bighorn, taken by Mr. Stone in the Rocky Mountains, west of the Mackenzie River 
(lat. 66 30' N.), in August, 1898. This specimen afforded the first food the party had secured 
for forty-eight hours after reaching the mountains. 




One of the finest White Bighorn rams ever taken, 
tains, west of the Mackenzie, in August, 1898. 



Fig. ii. WHITE SHEEP. 

Secured bv Mr. Stone in the Rockv Moun- 




. 



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in the Museum 'Bulletin' in April, 1900: "I therefore feel safe in saying, after 
my limited personal observations, that the Caribou are the least known of anyjof 
the more important North American mammals; and that they present a most 
inviting field for study, with excellent possibilities of ample reward for the labor 
expended; and I may further add that the time for their investigation is limited. 
To successfully prosecute such work would necessitate the expenditure of a con- 




-ij.- 

ife 



.>.-. lisfc-r 5 -- .^>VA^ ~'V^~:>^^9sas!B^S vK?!H^ 
Sjfe: %.,-* ^'^gffS&y :^^m^^^^^^ 

JKTjfc"*-- ^ '" ''''fi^ *^^ v *#. >>'"-" V*jji.-.-? ^'Jr'ftS 

r > t^Jhte . y <.' -*- '...''- . .>>".. i..'-^\'^>*!.SiiSSS 




Fig. 14. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR. 

Ursus dalli gyas, killed near the head of Muller Bay, late in May, 1903. An old male, No. 
21802, Am. Mus. 



siderable sum of money, and require a vast amount of pluck, perseverance, and 
patience, and entail on the part of the explorer the endurance of much privation 
and hardship." 

In the fall of 1900 a short but very successful trip was made by Mr. Stone to 
the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, to secure for the Museum a good series of specimens 
of the Alaska Moose, up to this time wholly unrepresented in its collections. He 
also obtained a single specimen of a new species of Caribou (described later as 

10 




Fi^. 15. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAK. 
Another view of the specimen shown in Fijj. 14 




Fig. 16. ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR. 



Same specimen as shown in Figs. 14 and 15. 
L. Clark, >one of five specimens prepared for a 



Mounted at the Atnrriran Must-urn by James 
Tin- skull is shown in Fi^s. 18 20. 



11 



Rangifer stonei; see Figs. 12 and 13, p. 9) and several Bears, representing two 
species. 

The extreme desirability of securing for the Museum a satisfactory representa- 
tion of the mammal life of northern North America before the inroads of big game 
hunters, miners, and other visitors to these northern regions should render its 
attainment impossible, led to steps being taken, early in 1901, to raise a fund 
among the friends of the Museum for the systematic prosecution of this work, 
under the leadership of Mr. Stone. Thanks to the interest and energetic efforts 
of Mr. Madison Grant, Secretary of the New York Zoological Society, an annual 




Fig. 17. HOME OF THE ALASKA PENINSULA BEAR. 

Coast of Bering Sea, near head of Muller Bay, Alaska. From a photograph taken by Mr. 
Stone late in May, 1903. 



sum sufficient for the purpose, for the period of three years, was soon pledged. 
That the supporters of this enterprise have reason to feel satisfied with the results 
due to their liberality is clearly apparent from the summary here presented of the 
work of Mr. Stone and his assistants during the field seasons of 1901, 1902, and 
1903, in northern British Columbia and Alaska. 

The expedition of 1901 outfitted from Seattle and reached Homer, Alaska, June 
21, and work was continuously prosecuted till October at different points on 
the Kenai Peninsula. Mr. J. D. Figgins of the American Museum, and Mr. A. H. 
Mehner of Seattle, accompanied Mr. Stone as field assistants, their special work 
being the collecting of small mammals and birds, as opportunity offered, while 

12 




Flf . iS. 




Fig. i<>. 




Fig. jo. 
FigS. l8-20. URSUS DALLI GYAS. 

No. 21802, old male, Muller Bay, Alaska Peninsula. J natural size. Three views of the 
skull of the specimen shown in Figs. 14-16. 

13 




Fig. 21. 




Fig. 22. 




Fit!. 23- 

Figs. 21-23. URSUS MERRIAMI. 

No. 21807, middle-aged male, Muller Bay, Alaska Peninsula. The mounted skin of this 
specimen is shown in Fig. 24, p. 15. 

14 



Mr. Stone gave special attention to large game. At the end of the Kanai season 
Mr. Stone, accompanied 1>\ Mr. Figgins. made a special expedition to the western 
end of the Alaska Peninsula to procure Caribous and Bears. The season's work 
at both localities was eminently successful, resulting in a collection of 350 mam- 
mals and }oo birds, representing species, with few exceptions, wholly new to the 




Fig. 24. URSUS MERRIAMI. 

Taken at head of Muller Bay, Alaska Peninsula, May, 1903. An old male, No. 21804. From 
a specimen mounted at the Museum by James L. Clark to form part of a group of Alaska Penin- 
sula Bears. 



American Museum collections. The mammals included 5 Moose, 15 Caribou, 14 
White Sheep, n Bears, and 8 additional Bear skulls, and about 300 small mam- 
mals, consisting mostly of Voles, Shrews, and Squirrels, but including a few Foxes, 
Martins, Weasels, and a Wolverene. The Caribous were all taken on the western 
end of the Alaska Peninsula and represented a new species since named in honor 

15 



of Mr. Madison Grant, in recognition of his interest in securing the funds for carry- 
ing on the work. 

The journey from Homer to the western end of the Alaska Peninsula, of nearly 
a thousand miles, was made when the season was far advanced and navigation 
dangerous. But so strongly convinced was Mr. Stone that the form of Caribou 
inhabiting this remote point would prove of especial interest that he was willing, 
on account of his comparative nearness to the locality, to risk the chances of the 
trip. Unfavorable weather caused a delay of ten days in reaching the mainland 




Fig. 25. NORTHERN GRIZZLY. 

Adult female and male cub killed in the Sheslay Mountains, Northwest British Columbia, 
late in August, 1902. 



from Sand Point, Popoff Island, only twelve miles distant, but the time was well 
improved in forming a large collection of the peculiar Shrews and Voles of this 
small island, then only recently described and unrepresented outside of the Na- 
tional Museum at Washington. The Caribou, as already noted, proved to be a 
strikingly distinct type. Five of the fourteen specimens have been mounted for 
a group, as shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 38, p. 24). 

The season of 1902 was spent mainly in northern British Columbia, Mr. Stone's 
chief assistant being Mr. M. P. Anderson, a student of Leland Stanford University. 
Mr. Stone, however, first visited the Alaska Peninsula in quest of the big Brown 

16 





Fig. 17. 




Fif.rt. 

FigS. 26-28. URSUS M1DDENDORFFI. 

No. 19766, old male, Kadiak Island, Alaska. J natural size. One of the largest of a series 
of 39 Kadiak Bear skulls secured by Mr. Stone in 1902 and 1903. 

17 



Bear discovered there the previous season, and to obtain accessories for the group 
of Grant Caribou. But the hunt for Bears proved unsuccessful, and about the 
end of June he joined Mr. Anderson at Wrangel, where Mr. Anderson was already 
at work collecting small mammals. On July -8 they left Wrangel for the head- 
waters of the Stickine River, where work was prosecuted over a considerable 
range of country till the last week in October. Later about two weeks were spent 
at Kupreanof Island, near Sitka. 




Fig. 29. HEAD OF MOUNTAIN GOAT. 

Type of Oreamnos montanus columbianus, killed in the Sheslay Mountains, Northwest British 
Columbia, August, 1902. No. 19838, Am. Mus. 

This season only mammals were collected, of which nearly noo specimens were 
taken, including about 45 head of large game, besides a series of 31 skulls of the 
Kadiak Bear, obtained at Kadiak Island. The large game comprised 9 fine speci- 
mens of the Osborii Caribou (Rangifer osborni; see Figs. 40-45, pp. 26-29), 6 
specimens of Moose, 14 fine examples of the Sitka Deer, 9 specimens of the Stone 
Sheep' (Ovis stonei), 4 specimens of Mountain Goat, and 3 Bears. These specimens 
are all complete (skin, skull, and leg bones), with measurements, for mounting. 
Among the thousand specimens of small mammals were five species new to science, 



ami large series of several others hitherto rare in collections. One of the Goats 
F-.i,'. 29, ]>. iS) forms tin- type of tin- new subspecies recently described as 
init>s nwnUinns columhiatius. 

In 1903 the western end of the Alaska Peninsula was again visited, win -re about 
six weeks \\viv s]>ent, after which the season's work was again transferred to the 




Fig. 30. NORTHERN BUSHY-TAILED RAT (Xcotoma cinerea salicamans). 

Northern British (Columbia. Andrew J. Stone Expedition. Mounted at the Museum by 
Herbert Lang. 



Kenai Peninsula. Mr. Stone was again accompanied l>y Mr. M. P. Anderson, and 
also by Mr. B. H. Brown of Taccma, Washington. The season's output num- 
bered about 875 mammals and 317 birds. The trip to the Alaska Peninsula was 
primarily to secure a series of the big Peninsula Bears (see Figs. 14-20), of which 
10 fine examples were secured, complete for mounting, including a skeleton of a 

19 





Fig. 31. LOUCHEUX MAN. 




Fig. 32. LOUCHEUX WOMAN. 

Figs. 31 and 32 are from photographs taken by Mr. Stone at Fort McPherson in 1898. See 
Bulletin Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIV, pp. 53-68, pll. vii-xi. 

20 




Fig. 33. KOUKPAGMIUT MKN. 





Fig. .54. KorKi'Af.MicT MKX. 

s- 33-35 ( see nex * page) are from photographs of men and women of tin- Kmikpagmiut 
tribe of Eskimo living near the Arctic Coast east of the Mackenzie River, taken by Mr. Stone in 
1898. 

.'I 



fine old male. Here were also obtained about 140 small mammals, of species 
nearly all new to the Museum's collections, including a large series of specimens 
of Citellus stonei, a new species of large Spermophile discovered by Mr. Stone. The 
large mammals taken on the Kenai Peninsula included 6 Moose, 16 White Sheep, 
3 Bears, and 8 additional Kadiak Bear skulls from Kadiak Island. The sheep 
were in good fall coat, and thus in excellent condition for mounting for a group; 
those previously obtained were in the short summer coat and thus less desirable 
for exhibition. 




Fig. 35. KOUKPAGMIUT WOMEN AND CHILD. 



The Bears collected on the Alaska Peninsula, near Muller Bay, appear to in- 
clude two species, one of which, represented by a flat skin and one complete speci- 
men, including skeleton as well as skin, is the Ursus dalli gyas (Figs. 14-20, pp. 
10-13), while the other specimens (nine skins with skulls, etc., for mounting and 
one extra skull) are apparently not Ursus gyas, but a form of large Brown Bear 
quite different from any of the other forms, and which has been described as 
Ursus merriami (Figs. 21-24, PP- T 4, 15)- It differs markedly from gyas in cranial 
characters and in external features, as the color, the texture of the pelage, and 
the shape of the claws. The skulls and mounted specimens of both forms are 





Figs. 36, 37. RANGIFER GRANTI. 

Two views of a typical male skull (No. 17601, $ ) of the Grant Caribou, discovered by Mr. 
Stone in 1901 on the western end of the Alaska Peninsula. Fig. 36, about y, natural size. Fig. 
37, about \ natural size. 




Fig. 38. GROUP OF THE GRANT CARIBOU. 



Five specimens of Rangijer granti, collected by Mr. Stone on the Alaska Peninsula, and 
mounted at the American Museum. 









Fig. 39. HOME OF THE GRANT CARIBOU. 

From a photograph taken by Mr. Stone late in October, 1901, on the Alaska Peninsula, near 
Muller Bay. 

94 



shmvn in the accompanying illustrations. In the 1901 trip to the Alaska Penin- 
sula a skull of U. mcrriami was obtained, from which the sj)ecies was originally 
described, and in the spring of 1903 nine of the ten skins and skulls obtained 
represent this animal, and include individuals of various ages. 

The number of s]>eciinens obtained during the three seasons, 1901, 1902, and 
1903. number '325 mammals and 617 birds, besides many nests and eggs. The 
mammals comprise about 30 Bears in complete condition for mounting and 40 
additional skulls, representing altogether 6 species; 17 specimens of the big 
Alaska Moose, in addition to the 5 specimens obtained in 1900, representing both 
sexes and various ages; 29 Caribou, representing four distinct species; 39 Big- 
horn Sheep, representing two species, in both the summer and the late fall coats; 
4 Mountain Goats, representing a new subspecies; 14 specimens of the Sitka 
Deer ; and 2 1 80 small mammals, ranging in size from a Fox down to Shrews and 
Voles, and ci unprising about all of the species known from the regions visited. The 
specimens are all carefully prepared, with flesh measurements, and all are in 
excellent condition for mounting and in ample series for showing the adults of 
both sexes and the yc;ung in various stages of growth. 




Fii;. 40. OSBORX CARIBOU. 

An old male Rangtfer osborni, the largest specimen of Caribou of which there is any record. 
Taken by Mr. Stone on Levi-1 Mountain. Northwest British Columbia, late in September, 1902. 



In addition to the specimens of mammals mentioned above, about 100, includ- 
ing 20 head of Caribou and Sheep, were collected by Mr. Stone on his earlier trips > 
to the Northwest Territories and Alaska, making a total of over 2400 specimens, 
representing about 90 species and subspecies, of which 1 5 were first made known 
to science from Mr. Stone's specimens, and nearly all were entirely new to the 
Museum's collections. at the time they were received. 

The 600 birds, besides a collection of nests and eggs, obtained mostly on the 
Kenai Peninsula in 1901 and 1903, formed also a most important addition to 
the Museum's collection of birds, besides adding two new to science, they forming 
the chief part of the ornithological material the Museum has as yet received 
from Alaska. 

In addition to furnishing so much wholly new material for mounting, including 
small mammals and birds as well as large game, the Stone collections have formed 
the basis of numerous papers in the Museum 'Bulletin,' aggregating about 240 




Fig. 41. OSBORN CARIBOU. 

A female Rangifer osborni, killed on Level Mountain, Northwest British Columbia, late in 
September, 1902. This was one of nine animals secured late in the evening a long distance from 
camp, and which had to be left until the following morning before they could be prepared as 
specimens. This photograph shows the condition in which the animals were found the next 
morning a common experience for the collector in such regions. The men in preparing the 
specimens must bare their hands and arms to skin the partly frozen animals, dragging them 
from beneath the snow and working on them for hours exposed to wintry blasts. At such 
times the men suffer extremelv at their work. 



pages, with 12 plates and 50 illustrations, the bibliography of which is as 



1897. Allen, J. A. Preliminary Description of a New Mountain Sheep from the British North- 
west Territory. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. IX, pp. 111-114, P'l- and iii, 
April 8, 1897. 

Ovis stonei, sp. nov. 

1899. . On Mammals from the Northwest Territory collected by Mr. A. J. Stone. Ibid.. 
XII, pp. 1-9, March 4, 1899. 

/ii/>i.v saltator, Phenacomys constablei, Microtus stonei, M. [mordar] vellerosns. M. 
i\iutus [ - M. vellerosus], spp. nov. 

1900. . The Mountain Caribou of Northern British Columbia. Ibid., XIII, pp. 1-18. 
figs. 1-18, April 3, 1900. 

RiiHgiji-r mantanus Seton-Thompson, later distinguished as R. osborni sp. nov. 
1900. Stone, A. J. Some Results of a Natural History Journey to Northern British Columbia, 
Alaska, and the Northwest Territory, in the Interest of the American Museum of 
Natural History. Ibid., XIII, pp. 31-62, figs. 1-5, April 6, 1900. 

Itinerary, including geographical discoveries; annotated list of the larger game ani- 
mals, including extended observations on their habits and ranges. 




Fin 42 BKINC.INT. CARIBOU TO CAMP. 

In the Cassiar Mountains. Northwest British Columbia, late in September, 1897. 

M 



1901. 



1902. 



1902. 



1902. 



Boas, Franz. A. J. Stone's Measurements of Natives of the Northwest Territories. Ibid., 
XIV, pp. 53-68, pll. vi-xi, March 26, 1901. 

Measurements of 86 individuals, belonging to four tribes, with many photographs, a 
selection from which is reproduced in pll. vi-ix. 

Allen, J. A. Description of a New Caribou from Kenai Peninsula. Ibid., XIV, pp. 
143-148, figs. 1-4, May 28, 1901. 

Rangifer stonei, sp. nov. 
. A New Caribou from the Alaska Peninsula. Ibid., XVI, pp. 119-127, figs. 1-6, 



March 31, 1902. 

Rangifer granti, sp. nov. 

. A New Bear from the Alaska Peninsula, 
xxxi, April 23, 1902. 

Ursus merriami, sp. nov. 
. A New Sheep from Kenai Peninsula. 
April 16, 1902. 

Ovis dalli kenaiensis, subsp. nov. 



Ibid., XVI, pp. 141-143, pll. xxx and 



Ibid., XVI, pp. 145-148, figs, i and 2, 




Fig. 43. CAMP SCENE ON LEVEL MOUNTAIN. 

Mr. Stone's camp on Level Mountain, British Columbia, September 15, 1902, just after 
bringing in nine specimens of the Osborn Caribou. The heads are not yet skinned, and the 
preparation of the skins will necessitate several days of hard work upon them. 

28 



1902 Allen, J. A. Description of a New Caribou from Northern British Columbia. Ibid., 
XVI, pp. 149-158, figs. 1-6, July i, 1902. 
A.'iiiii.'j'/Vr t>.\l>(>rni, sp. nov. 

1902. List of Mammals collected in Alaska by the Andrew J. Stone Ex|>c.liti<>n of 1901. 

Ibid., XV r I, pp. 215-230, July 12, 1902. 
1902. Chapman, Frank M. List of Birds collected in Alaska by the Andrew J. Stone Expedi- 

tinii <>t IQOI. //>i</., XVI, pp. 231-247, Aug. 18, 1902. 
Sixty-fight species and subspecies; Lagopus luccunts (vnhisuUiris, Cyanocitla stel- 

leri borealis, subspp. nov. 




Fig. 44. DRYING THE SKINS. 

Camp scene in the Sheslay Mountains, B. C., showing the manner of caring for the skins in 
camp. 

A rude drying rack is improvised on which the skins are hung to dry. When the skins are 
first removed from the animals, which must be done as soon as possible after they are killed, 
all the blood is thoroughly removed from them. They are then taken to camp, fleshed, and salted, 
the best quality of fine salt being thoroughly rubbed in with the hand into all parts of the skin, 
great care lieing taken that every part of the skin is reached by the salt. The skin is then care- 
fully folded and left for twenty-four hours, being turned during the time to insure that every 
part of it is saturated. After this treatment it is hung on the rack as here shown. The skins 
while thus hanging are protected by a canvas covering to prevent injury by damp weather or hot 
sunshine. During favorable weather the cover is removed to facilitate the drying of the skins, 
which, however, should proceed slowly. When dry the skins are carefully folded, the fur side 
in, and made into packages for transportation. 

29 



i93- 



1904. 



1904. 



1904. 



Allen, J. A. Mammals collected in Alaska and Northern British Columbia by the Andrew 
J. Stone Expedition of 1902. Ibid., XIX, pp. 521-567, October 10, 1903. 

Citellus stonei, Synaptomys andersoni, Erethizon epizanthus nigrescens, Putorius 
microtis, spp. et subsp. nov. 

. New Forms of the Mountain Goat (Oreamnos). Ibid., XX, pp. 19-21, February 
10, 1904. 

Oreamnos montanus columbianus, subsp. nov. type from Sheslay Mountains, col- 
lected by A. J. Stone. 
-. Mammals collected in Alaska by the Andrew J. Stone Expedition of 1903. Ibid., 



XX, pp. 273-292, figs. 1-9, September 8, 1904. 

Chapman, Frank M. Birds collected in Alaska by the Andrew J. Stone Expedition of 
1903. Ibid., XX, pp. 399-406, September 8, 1^904. 



The specimens already mounted from the Stone collections include a group of 
five Grant Caribou, consisting of individuals of both sexes and various ages, 
with natural accessories brought from the Alaska Peninsula ; a group of the big 
Peninsula Brown Bear, consisting of two old specimens and two yearlings; three 
Sitka Deer, one Osborn Caribou, one fine old male Alaska Moose, and five Stone 
Sheep. The additional groups planned for construction are a Black Bear group, 







Fig. 45. HOME OF THE OSBORN CARIBOU. 

Typical Caribou range in the Cassiar Mountains, Northwest British Columbia (60 north 
lat.). From a photograph taken by Mr. Stone during the latter part of September, 1897. 

30 



CO f> CO CO CO 

o o o o 





~\ 



/enc (o prevent Caribou running 



too much to right or lift 



1 



CO CO CO CO CO 












co w co co n to 

""col 

(0 



to co co co co co 



co co to to 








00 





31 



a Moose group, and a White Sheep group. A number of the more interesting 
of the smaller mammals have also been mounted, and the skulls of the Moose, 
Caribou, Deer, and Sheep have been prepared for exhibition and hung on the 
walls of the exhibition hall of mammals. 

While so much northern mammal material has been added to the collection 
of the American Museum through the Stone Expeditions, especially those of 
1901, 1902, and 1903, only a comparatively small area was explored, namely, 
the extreme western end of the Alaska Peninsula, the Kenai Peninsula, the in- 
terior of northern British Columbia, and the immediate vicinity of Wrangel and 
Kupreanof Island, southern Alaska. The large game animals, as well as the small 
animals, of these limited districts are well represented, and the Museum has thus 
made an excellent beginning toward an adequate collection of the mammals of 
northern North America. At present it has the finest collection of Caribous 




Fig. 48. .CACHE OF SPECIMENS. 

Cache in which Mr. Stone's collection, made in August, 1898, in the Rocky Mountains west of 
the Mackenzie, was stored, after being brought out from the mountains, to await transporta- 
tion by dog sled. The Hudson Bay Company agents at Fort Norman sent Indians and sleds 
to bring this collection in to the Fort the following winter. The specimens were there crated and 
forwarded to the American Museum of Natural History, reaching New York two years after 
they were taken. 

32 



extant in any museum in tin- world, and |>erhaps larger than all combined, but it 
represents satisfactorily only a few of the many forms ol" this polymorphic group. 

The (.'aribou group ranges across the continent from Newfoundland and Green- 
land to tlu- extreme western limit of the Peninsula of Alaska, and from about the 
northern border of the United States to the Arctic coast: they haunt not only the 
northern woodlands and the' <>]>en tundras, but ascend to the treeless summits of 
all the principal mountain ranges. Their distribution, however, is not continuous 
but is broken up into numerous disconnected areas. They are highly plastic, 
yielding readily to the varied conditions of environment, often supplemented 
by isolation. f> which they are subjected. They are also everywhere the prey of 
man, being the main dependence of the Indians and Eskimo for food and cloth- 
ing, of the whalers along the Arctic coast for fresh provisions, and of the miners 
and settlers in the newly developed mining fields of the north, and they are also 
favorite quarry of the big game globe-trotter. For this reason their early prac- 
tical extermination is certain, since every year witnesses, at many ]x>ints, a 
marked restriction of their ranges and a lamentable diminution of their numbers. 
In order to determine the number and relationship of the numerous geographical 




49. MR. STONE'S CAMP IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. 

From a photograph of the camp occupied by Mr. Stone's party during seven weeks' stay 
in the Rocky Mountains, in latitude about 66 30' N., from which thi-y hunted an area nearly 
50 miles square. 

::: 



forms of this interesting group, it will be necessary to bring together much more 
material than is at present available for examination, and there is no time to lose 
in prosecuting the work, in view of their rapid decrease. 

The Museum fully appreciates its indebtedness to the contributors to the Stone 
Expedition Fund, and takes pleasure in setting forth in this public acknowledg- 
ment some account of the important results of Mr. Stone's persistent and well- 
planned efforts in securing for the Museum such a large amount of well-prepared 
material, often at the cost of much personal risk and hardship. At the same time 
it seems proper to make known to the friends of the Museum that this is only a 
most successful beginning of a work that should be continued. 























Fig. 50. ON THE CARCAJOU RIVER. 

Bringing specimens of White Bighorns to camp, on the Carcajou River, in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, near the Arctic Circle. Two men are just arriving from a carry of fifteen miles in the 
mountains, each with a pack of 250 pounds, consisting of skins, with the limb bones and skulls. 
On this occasion (in August, 1898) Mr. Stone and his party brought 14 complete specimens 
of the White Bighorn, their camp equipage and hunting outfit at one trip. 

Mr. Stone and his Indians lived in these mountains 150 miles from his base of supplies, sub- 
sisting entirely on the flesh of the wild sheep they killed for specimens. They had with them 
only a single piece of canvas for shelter, and when they left the main camp this was left behind 
for the protection of the specimens already taken, the whole party at such times sleeping where 
night overtook them, with only the same protection as that of the wild animals they were hunting. 

34 





Kit;. 51. BRINC.INC, BKAR SKINS TO ('AMP. 




Fig. 52. BRINC.ING BEAR SKINS TO CAMP. 

Figs. 51 and 52 illustrate the method of 'packing' skins of the Alaska Peninsula Bear, during 
Mr. Stone's bear hunt, in May. 1903, near Muller Bay, Alaska Peninsula. 




Fig. 53. BUILDING A BOAT. 

In the region of Hell-Gate Canon, on the Liard River, in the spring of 1898, Mr. Stone's men 
became afraid to venture further into the great northern wilderness and abandoned him to 
return to the Pacific coast, leaving him surrounded by a lot of renegades known as the Hell-Gate 
Indians, notorious for the murders they have committed, but who, owing to their obscurity and 
great distance from Government officials, have escaped punishment for their crimes. Mr. Stone 
had with him a ton of supplies, the things absolutely necessary to his further progress and work. 
After much difficulty he -managed to rid himself of the presence of these renegade neighbors 
without serious results, and then immediately set to work to plan and construct a boat for the 
transportation of his supplies down the Liard River to the nearest Hudson Bay post. After 
careful calculation he decided to build a boat 24 feet long, 7 feet beam, and 21 inches deep. 
He first bent the frame from wood hewed from the forest, covering the frame with bark from 
spruce trees, and this with canvas pieced together from scraps contained in his outfit. Over 
this was spread a pitch made of spruce gum and bacon grease, making it waterproof. The boat 
when completed weighed a thousand pounds, which with great difficulty he succeeded in launching. 

Putting aboard his supplies he descended what was to him an unknown river, following the 
last of the ice, finally reaching a Hudson Bay post 150 miles below, without the loss of any of 
his supplies. 



3(5 




Fig. 54. ON THE LIARD RIVER. 

The boat with its load on the way down the Liard River, tied to the shore while Mr. Stone 
prepares his lunch. The irregular white blocks to the right are cakes of ice stranded during 
the breaking up of the river. 




Fig. 55. CAMPING ox THE ARCTIC COAST. 

From a photograph of Mr. Stone's camp among the Eskimo on Allen Channel, on the Arctic 
coast, about 100 miles east of the mouth of the Mackenzie. At this camp ended Mr. Stone's 
long sledge journey, on the 24th day of May, 1899. This trip of 2000 miles was made with two 
assistants, one of whom, an Indian, fell sick of scurvy, and when this camp was reached had 
been carried on the top of the dog sled for 650 miles. He was taken from this point to the head 
of the Mackenzie Delta, distant 250 miles, in an open boat and restored to his people. 



38 



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